IMPORTANT UPDATES

Laboratory technician completing tests in lab at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Check Lab Hours Before Heading Out

Due to ongoing staffing challenges, Children’s has made temporary adjustments to lab operating hours. Please note, these hours are subject to change. Call 404-785-KIDS (5437) to confirm hours. We appreciate your continued support and patience as we navigate these current challenges.

Current Visitor Restrictions

To avoid overcrowding, we are limiting visitors to two parents or caregivers in our Emergency Rooms, Urgent Care Centers, the Emory Children’s Center and some services in our hospitals.

LEARN MORE

For doctors to diagnose diseases or other conditions, they often require that a child undergo lab work. Laboratory tests may include collecting a blood, urine or tissue sample from your child.

At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, our laboratory services team is capable of running a wide range of tests to help treat kids in our care. The specialists who perform pediatric lab tests and prepare results are known as phlebotomists, medical technologists and pathologists. The laboratory services team at Children’s is specially trained to work with babies, kids and teens, and our specialists know how to put them at ease.

How do you get a lab test at Children’s?

A majority of the lab tests completed at Children’s require a referral from your child’s doctor; however, all laboratory locations accept walk-ins for lab tests, so an appointment is not required.

What lab tests and procedures does Children’s perform?

  • Pediatric blood collection, and pain management for phlebotomy procedures
  • General hematology, chemistry, coagulation, immunohematology and urinalysis studies
  • Pathology examination
  • Pediatric microbiology and rapid molecular testing (respiratory viruses, GI infections)
  • Allergy testing using ImmunoCAP methodology
  • Age-specific explanation of test results so parents understand what is normal for their child’s age and how that differs from results for adults
  • Sweat chloride collection and testing (accredited by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation)
  • Flow cytometry and bone marrow examinations
  • Perinatal and placental pathology

Led by a professional staff of nationally and internationally recognized scientists and pediatric pathologists, our laboratory services team provides support to the clinical areas of Children's Egleston, Hughes Spalding and Scottish Rite hospitals, ranging from transplant and hematology/oncology to general care, and to the community, such as local pediatricians, through our outpatient services.

Our department of pathology and laboratory medicine is nationally accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and Georgia Department of Community Health.

Laboratory services are overseen by internationally known subspecialty-certified physicians, scientists and pathologists.

Our laboratory services certifications include: